Gigging when slightly sick

[eddiewagner]

Hi guys, we have a heavy weekend ahead. And I feel not do great. So I will stay warm and dry at home today, drink a lot of tea, practice. I sing and play, kind of a frontman stuff.
What is your strategy for this much dreaded scenario?

 

[DeeBobGuitar]

Tea with honey in (but not too much honey, you'll **** yourself) as hot as you can bear to drink it- no milk, no sugar, hold it under your nose and inhale the steam while you're not drinking. Cough sweets (I favour a Jakeman's cherry) every so often. Vick's vaporub under your nose and on your chest before bed.

When not drinking the honey tea, drink loads and loads and loads of water. Do some gentle singing practice intermittently throughout the day to keep the muscles working, keep warm but still find the opportunity to move about from time to time so that you don't start to feel lethargic.

Not guaranteed success by any means, but that's what i've done in the past and has seemed to do me well.

 

[dannyh]

Rest up beforehand as much as possible, drink plenty of liquids, & plow through the gigs as best you can. Wish there was a magic pill, but I've never found one. Sorry to hear you're dealing with this. I've been there and it's a drag.

 

[dougstrum]

Rest, hydration, cough drops, and ibuprofen or Tylenol. Not a lot of coffee but a good hot cup before going on is nice.
Years ago I lost my voice midway through a craft fair, we played through with instrumentals~
Perhaps interspersing a few instrumentals will give your voice a rest.

 

[Telenator]

Southern Comfort Manhattan.
The Southern Comfort soothes the throat.
The vermouth cuts the phlegm.

Get your mic up loud. get the monitor hot in your ear and relax when you sing. You'll sound better than you thought possible.

 

[srblue5]

+1 for hydration and rest as much as you can. Minimize coffee and alcohol intake. Maybe bring a cooling fan for the stage if you're running a little hot.

 

[haggardfan1]

I've got a gig Saturday night, and I'm nowhere near one hundred percent either. Very little congestion left, but I still run out of air in a hurry, so it might be mostly ballads from me LOL. Thank goodness I'm not the only singer.

Also, I have not had my hands on a guitar since December 16th. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

 

[loudboy]

Throat Coat tea, a lot of people use it. Singing is tough when you're ill.

Players can just power thru it. I once did 3 sets while having a kidney stone episode, not fun. I also played from 2-6am on NYE with terrible bronchitis - hot tea got me thru that one.

 

[eddiewagner]

Hi guys, I survived two shows and now I am sick in bed. Time for curing it all.

 

[REWTX]

Throat Coat tea, a lot of people use it. Singing is tough when you're ill.

Players can just power thru it. I once did 3 sets while having a kidney stone episode, not fun. I also played from 2-6am on NYE with terrible bronchitis - hot tea got me thru that one.

You are a tough person! I’ve worked through a lot of pain but kidney stones put me down.

 

[gridlock]

I once did an outside gig in October with pneumonia.

A trip to the hospital the next day. Dumb.

 

[tweeet]

If my throat is that bad that I can't sing...I'll cancel...otherwise the show must go on.

 

[String Tree]

Hi guys, we have a heavy weekend ahead. And I feel not do great. So I will stay warm and dry at home today, drink a lot of tea, practice. I sing and play, kind of a frontman stuff.
What is your strategy for this much dreaded scenario?

I have seen a lot of that over the decades.
Anymore, if I can't, I don't.
If i can, I do.

 

[middy]

The worst gig I ever played, nothing sounded right, I sounded like crap. By the time it was over the drummer's wife looked worried and took my temperature. 102. I don't remember feeling that sick, just confused.
If you can avoid it, just don't play.

 

[G Stone496]

Hot tea with rum, lemon and honey

 

[Rockinvet]

Hi guys, I survived two shows and now I am sick in bed. Time for curing it all.

Hope you get well soon.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

This coming weekend ( finally!) is gonna be busy- 3 gigs, 3 days, 2 bands.

Aging, and arthritis in the knees, is officially catching up with long-time chronic back pain ( gotta sit, always!), plus my usual anxiety about load-ins, walking, parking...
But this stuff usually all disappears as soon as we start playing- that, I can do!

I do know what is like to play and try to sing, when run-down from a cold or flu- an extra layer of misery

Then there's outdoor Summer gigs, but not yet!
It is getting harder, but I'm married to gigs

 

[39martind18]

When singing while your throat/voice are not at their best, let the mic do the heavy lifting. Don't force things. If a full-voice high note is not there, use falsetto, or play in a lower key. When the bottom of my range falls down into the basement, songs I normally sing, say in C, I may take down to A or G. Adjust so that the strain on the throat/voice is reduced. As a long-time solo act, when the crud crops up and the voice goes south, I try to sing as easy as possible.